Writing Instructions for All Quizzes and Assignments

[EvelynM]

Hello,

Is it possible in Canvas to write and save the same instructions for all the quizzes and assignments once without having to copy and paste them into each quiz and assignment individually? I have been using Canvas for a few semesters, and I find myself having to edit my instructions in all the quizzes and assessments almost every semester to add clarifications or reminders because of a few students who do not read and follow all the parts. How can I avoid having to edit all the quizzes and assignments individually to update the instructions? I want to use the same list of general instructions in all the quizzes and assignments. I hope this makes sense. 

Below is a portion of the general instructions that I use for all assignments and quizzes. Thanks for your help!

Evelyn Milian

Lecturer of General Microbiology

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ASSESSMENTS (ASSIGNMENTS, QUIZZES,  EXAMS, AND ANY OTHER TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS) - PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW ALL THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY.

• The following instructions and requirements apply to ALL the assignments and assessments in this course.  
• *** The students must read and follow instructions for all their work in this course. "I didn't know" will NOT be an acceptable excuse for not following instructions or meeting the expectations or requirements. ***

1. STUDYING, PLANNING, AND PREPARATION ARE ESSENTIAL!
   1. Study early and carefully plan your day and time to complete a graded assignment or assessment, ensuring you have enough time, a reliable computer, a high-speed internet connection, and no interruptions while working on your graded coursework.
   2. If you wait until too close to the due date and time of an assignment or assessment to prepare for it and complete it, this can cause frustration and stress. Please remember that unexpected difficulties and situations can happen.
   3. Before completing any assignment or assessment, you should ensure that you have read and studied the material enough time and efficiently.
   4. The questions in the assignments and assessments will require various skills, including understanding, analysis, application, and critical thinking.  
   5. Working with other students: While you may work with other students when preparing and studying for assessments and coursework, your answers must be distinguishable from others and clearly in your own words. If your answers are too similar to those of other students, a deduction of points or a zero will result.

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@EvelynM ...

Do you have a sandbox course in Canvas available to you?  This seems like a perfect way to accomplish what you are asking.  A sandbox course is just a course that you might get from your Canvas admins where you can use it to play around with Canvas and house any content you aren't ready to put in an actual course yet.  You could design your instruction pages in your sandbox course just the way you want, and then you could import that page into each of your courses for each semester using the Course Import Tool...selecting specific content.

How do I select specific content as part of a course import?

Another option for you would be to use Canvas Commons.  You would still design your content pages in your sandbox course, but then you could share that content to Canvas Commons (maybe just share it with yourself).  Then, you could import that page from Canvas Commons to each of your courses.  The benefit of this is that if you need to make changes to your directions, you would update just your sandbox course, re-share the page to Commons, and then tell Commons to update the page wherever it is used in the courses you had imported it into.

Finally, I'm not sure if your school has purchased DesignPLUS from Cidi Labs, but their toolset allows you to design template pages.  Template pages can be designed at the root account level, the sub-account level, and even at the course level.  This means that you could design template pages in your course that you could use for your needs like you've described.  It would be too much to describe here in a post, but you could certainly look into an option like that...if you had DesignPLUS avaialble to you.

Anyway...hopefully I've given you a few ideas to consider that might be good options for you.  Sing out if you have any questions...thanks!

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@EvelynM ...

Do you have a sandbox course in Canvas available to you?  This seems like a perfect way to accomplish what you are asking.  A sandbox course is just a course that you might get from your Canvas admins where you can use it to play around with Canvas and house any content you aren't ready to put in an actual course yet.  You could design your instruction pages in your sandbox course just the way you want, and then you could import that page into each of your courses for each semester using the Course Import Tool...selecting specific content.

How do I select specific content as part of a course import?

Another option for you would be to use Canvas Commons.  You would still design your content pages in your sandbox course, but then you could share that content to Canvas Commons (maybe just share it with yourself).  Then, you could import that page from Canvas Commons to each of your courses.  The benefit of this is that if you need to make changes to your directions, you would update just your sandbox course, re-share the page to Commons, and then tell Commons to update the page wherever it is used in the courses you had imported it into.

Finally, I'm not sure if your school has purchased DesignPLUS from Cidi Labs, but their toolset allows you to design template pages.  Template pages can be designed at the root account level, the sub-account level, and even at the course level.  This means that you could design template pages in your course that you could use for your needs like you've described.  It would be too much to describe here in a post, but you could certainly look into an option like that...if you had DesignPLUS avaialble to you.

Anyway...hopefully I've given you a few ideas to consider that might be good options for you.  Sing out if you have any questions...thanks!

[EvelynM]

Hi Chris,

Thank you so much for the helpful information. I've heard about a sandbox course, but I don't know if I have one. I'll find out. However, I'm unsure if I must create an instruction page to import. I don't see an import option in the quizzes. I want to put the exact instructions at the top of all the quizzes so that students have to read them before starting a quiz or assessment. It does not seem that I can import an "instructions" page into each quiz. I wonder if this makes sense.

I started using Canvas late in 2022 for a new online microbiology course, and I have yet to be able to explore all the features and options due to time restrictions. I teach part-time in several places, and I'm always super busy, so finding time to learn more about Canvas is difficult. I took a one-hour Canvas Basics webinar and have been learning little by little as I'm using it each semester, but I'll have to continue doing it gradually to keep learning.

Thanks again!

Evelyn

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hi there, @EvelynM ...

There are a couple of options for you to copy content from a sandbox course to your actual course.  You might want to consider making a generic quiz with your directions in the sandbox course first...and then you can copy that quiz to any course you want...filling in the missing pieces of the quiz.

• When you are in your sandbox course, go to your "Quizzes" page.  On that page, next to a quiz name, click on the three dots (kebab icon) on the far right side.  You'll see a "Copy to..." option.  As long as you are enrolled in both the sandbox course and the course you'll be teaching, you can copy a quiz from the sandbox to the course section.
  • How do I copy a quiz to another course?
• The other option is to use the Course Import Tool.  You'd be selecting specific content when doing this.  Log into the course that you'll be teaching (not the sandbox course) with students in it.  Then, go to "Settings" >> "Import Course Content".  Here, you'll be using the Course Import Tool to select specific content...and choosing your sandbox course during this process...so that you can select just the quiz(zes) you want to copy from the sandbox to the course you're logged into at the moment.  How do I select specific content as part of a course import?
• If you were go to the route of sharing the quiz to Canvas Commons, and then importing the quiz from Commons into one or more courses (like what I described earlier), these are the Guides you'd want to use:
  • How do I share a resource to Commons? - Instructure Community - 1798 (canvaslms.com)
  • How do I import and view a Commons resource in Can... - Instructure Community - 1808 (canvaslms.com)
  • How do I update a resource I previously shared to ... - Instructure Community - 1813 (canvaslms.com)
  • How do I view updates to resources I previously im... - Instructure Community - 1797 (canvaslms.com)

I hope this extra bit of information will also be of help to you.  Feel free to ask more questions if need be.